Keyboard attachment for typing and computing machines



June 1'2, 1928. 1,673,724

H. 'H. VICKERS KEYBOARD ATTACHMENT FOR TYPING AND COMPUTING MACHINESFiled April 29, 1925 Afforn Patented June 12, 1928.

umane fSTATES PATENT :o Fr-o-E.

Writ."VIOKERs-DF'CORONA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORTO UNDERWOOD "ELLIOTT -msmmcommnzpr-nmw YORK, N. Y., A coRPonA'rIoNfor'DELAwABE.

,1 BOARD ATTACHMENT FOR TYPING AND COMPUTING MACHINES.

Application filed April 29, 1925. Serial No. 26,587.

This invention relatesto the keyboards .uf combined typewriting andcomputingmanhines,.in whichitis usual for the rear bank of ikeysvtooperate the numeral-types, and

6 also tocontrol the computing mechanism.

It sometimes is necessary to use thenumeralekeysuin computation forlong. periods ot: time, --without using the alphabet-keys. lDifiicultiesthen arise, because the wearied Nand strained eyes of the operator takemore or.=less-notice of the/remainder oi thewkeyib9&rd,-- therebytending'to confusion and to mulation of speed,-and to increase in the ll-i'ebility-sof [error-Min operation. Moreover, 4116 tired ifingerswfthe operatorare apt =-ucesionsl, ly 'to depress aalphabetkeys by as.itisi quite diifioult to control the .Qfiggetsrwhnn operating/the"machine at high sgpoed, -iegqaeoially .it' the operation consists'iwhollysotinumeral-keys. Mistakes .in compputationarenot-selflfindinggso that even one error is a serious matter, and thereduction of the ,liability-oferror is-a desideratnm. lllhe'seiand other:mistakes of manipulation erm-particularly objectionable in performiStigWOrkon-a combined'adding and ijypewriting machine, :since they causeerrors-in the totals-that. t'requentl a1'ediflicult..tordetiect. Ithas'been song t to over- Iweome thesebbjections :by placing thenuf-rmemlvkeysninabankatethefront of the:

keyboard, but this necessitates reconstruc- \tionof the machine.

QOne 0f the objectsof the invention is to nowereome thesel and otherobjections, and to facilitate the. operation of the numeral-keys eanidavoid errors and increase speed, With- =ioutreconstructing.tlie-imacliine or going to substantiveexpense.

For this purpose .the 3 present invention .xprovideslmeans for renderingthe numeral- Jheysohighly conspicuous, by the use of a women Whicheoversup the alphabet-keys of fitheitypewriter, leaving exposed thenumeral-Alleys. Gun-fusion thereof with the alphabeth do listing work, I coverthe iilphabet=keys'12 with a stifi'yopaque plate which "may "be keys isthereby avoided, and the above-men -tionedsobjectionsa-re overcome. Thecover is readily detachable-whenever it is desired wtozuseirthealphabetkeys. It isa simple and W iimnpensive article, which can be readilycoristructed and appliedto machines that werealready in use. Moreovercertain of the .tnumeral keys are similar to alphabet-keys,

- as,:.forexample, 1 and O, and in consequence an alphabet-key isoccasionally apt plate may have lianges along its upper and lower endsand a flange at one sideadjacent its level portion.These.fiangesmaysengage wvith keys of thetypewriting =m achineoto holdorlock the platev in operative :position on the keyboard Without-hinderingthe operation of the numeral'an'd other keys not under the plate.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. a

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentaryitop'view of an Underwood bookkeepingtyp'e'writing machine, showing my'invention applied thereto. Figure :2is a fragmentary side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 34s a perspective vlew'ofthe cover. The keys of the Underwoodtype'wrltmg machine ll-WhICll areordinarrlymsed for listing work andsimilar,purposesiaretthe ten numeral-keys adyacentrthe highest row ofthe alphabet-keys 12, the back-spacerzkey, the non-print key, the rightand l'eftshifb keys, the spacer-bar l3-and'thezten tabulator-keysli. Tohave the numeral and tabulator keys stand out boldly and conspicuous- 1yon the keyboardot' the typewritingmachine 11 when it is being used for atime to easily formed of sheet-metal or-=other suitable material. Thisplate may be made 'so that in operative position on a :keyboard, anarrow portion 15 =of it will be'nor'mally level, and'mayoverlieand'rest uponthe top row of the alphabet-keys12 A portion'16 of theplate maybe integrally joined to the level portion 15, and be downwardlyinclined therefrom, so as to overlie and rest upon the remainingalphabet-keys. The level portion 15 of the plate may have adownwardly-bent flange 17. along its entire length arranged to engageclosely behind the top row of the alphabet-keys 12, so that the flangemay serve asa stop to prevent the plate from sliding downwardly out ofoperative position on the keyboard of the machine 11. The level portion15 may have a downwardly-bent flange 18 on its left end arranged to fitclosely against the first alphabet-key from the left (Q), in the top rowof the alphabet-keys 12, and serve to stop the plate from moving, out ofoperative position, to the right. The inclined portion 16 of the platemay have a downwardly-bent flange 19 along its' entire lower edgearranged to fit closely against the hook partly under the'lowest orbottom row of the alphabet-keys 12. Part of the flange may be in linewith or touching a portion of the left shift-key. The function of theflange 19 will appear hereinafter.

To put the plate in operative position on the keyboard of thetypewriting machine 11, the left shift-key is depressed and held downand the plate is passed or slid over the keyboard from the left. Theplate should be positioned while moving over the keyboard, so that theflange 17 will pass behind the top row of the alphabet-keys 12 and theflange 19 will pass partly in front of and partly under the bottom rowof the alphabetkeys. Vhen the plate has been moved to the right to itsoperative position on the keyboard, the flange 18 will have come upagainst the Q alphabet-key and thereby prevent further movement of theplate to the right. \Vhen the plate stops, its inclined portion 16 willhave passed entirely over the left shift-key which may then rise to itsnormal position adjacent the left side of the plate-portion 16. Theweightof the plate will slightly depress the alphabet-keys, so as tobring the inclined plate-portion 16 in line with the left shift-key,which will thus stop movement of the plate off the keyboard to the left.The flange 19 catching against the under side of the bottom rowof thealphabet-keys 12 will prevent the plate from being raised directly orbeing swung upwardly around the upper row of the alphabet-keys 12. Theflange 17 fitting closely against the keys in the upper row of the al-.phabet-keys 12 will engage with them to prevent the plate from beingswung upwardly around the bottom row of the alphabet-keys 12. It will bethus seen that the plate is, in effect, locked on the keyboard of themachine 11 against movement in any direction whatever after the leftshift-key has risen to its normal position.

The plate can be easily removed from the keyboard of the machine 11 bydepressing the left shift-key of the machine and pulling or slipping theplate off to the left.

It can be readily seen that while the plate is in position on thekeyboard of the machine 11, the numeral-keys will be better seen, andthe alphabet-keys cannot be operated accidentally. It can also be seenthat neither the plate nor its simple flange holding or locking meanswill hinder the free operation of the keys of the typewriting machine 11not under the plate.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Means for making conspicuous the numeral keys of a bookkeepingtypewriting machine, said means comprising an opaque plate arranged soas to overlie the alphabet keys of said machine, said plate providedwith a downwardly-bent flange at its upper end and a downwardly-bentflange at'its side, said flanges arranged to engage with keysin thehighest row of said alphabet keys so as to prevent movement of saidplate on the keyboard of said machine downwardly 'or to the right, thelower port-ion of said plate arranged to engage with the left shift-keyof said machine so as to prevent movement of' said plate to the left onthe keyboard of said machine.

2. Means for making conspicuous the numeral' keys of a bookkeepingtypewriting,

machine, said means'comprlsmg an o a no plate arranged so as to overliethe alp a ct keys of said machine, said plate provided with threedownwardly-bent flanges arranged to engage with certain alphabet keys soas to prevent movement of said plate with respect to the keyboard ofsaid machine in any direction except to the left, the lower portion ofsaid plate arranged to engage with the left shift-key of said machine soas to prevent movement of said plate to the left on the keyboard of saidmachine.

3. In a bookkeeping typewriting machine, in combination, a keyboardprovided with numeral, alphabet and shift keys, and means for makingconspicuous said numeral keys, said means comprising an opaque platearranged to overlie said alphabet keys and provided with flange meansarranged to engage with certain alphabet keys and a shift-key so as tohold detachably said plate on said keyboard.

4. A screen for typewriter keys made of sheet material bent to form acomparatively narrow upper part to overlie a single upper row of keys inhorizontal relation thereto and a comparatively wide lower part declinedfrom the front edge of the upper part to overlie a plurality of lowerrows of keys,

said upper part having aflange at one end to 130 cooperate with a keyand its rear edge part angularly disposed to provide a downwardlyprojecting flange to engage the rear sides of the keys underlying saidupper part to hold the screen in place.

a 5. A displaceable screen for typewriter keys made of sheet materialbent to form a comparatively narrow upper part to overlie a single upperrow of keys in horizontal relation thereto and a comparatively widelower part declined from the front edge of the upper part to overlie aplurality of lower rows of keys, said upper part having at its rear edgea downwardly disposed flange to engage the rear sides of the keysunderlying said part to hold the screen against downward displacement onthe keys, and said lmver part having at its front edge a downwardlyprojecting flan e to engage the front sides of the adjacent ieys toprevent accidental lifting of the screen.

6. A displaceable screen for typewriter keys made of sheet material bentto form a comparatively narrow upper part to overlie a single upper rowof keys in horizontal relation thereto and a comparatively wide lowerpart declined from the front edge of the upper part to overlie aplurality of lower rows of keys, said upper part having'at an end adownwardly disposed flange to engage the outer side of the adjacent keyto prevent lateral displacement of the screen, and holding means on theupper side of the upper keys and lower side of the lower keys to preventdisplacement of the screen on the keys.

HARRY H. VICKERS.

